Puddleducks Pre-school (Worksop)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school keen to find out what the day ahead has in store for them. They are warmly welcomed by the staff and settle quickly into the familiar routines of the pre-school. As they play, children learn how to share and negotiate with each other. Younger children play alongside each other with a dolls' house while a staff member supports them to play in a cooperative way. With support from staff, a group of older children speak to each other and successfully find a solution to a problem they encounter when they play a game of families with a doll and a pram.

Children are confident and independent. Staff encourage children to have a go and keep trying different things when they play. Outdoors, children challenge themselves and understand about staying safe. They decide whether to jump off a pyramid, climb a tree or run down a grassy slope. Children ask for help from staff if they decide they need it. They persevere as they put on their outdoor shoes or find and put on an apron to wear when they play with water. Children enjoy stories. Older children sit and listen attentively in group sessions. Younger children are excited to join in when staff spontaneously use a piece of blue fabric to represent the sea and retell the 'Shark in the park' story.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff are experienced and skilful. The manager provides support to develop their skills through a range of different development and training opportunities. Staff who take on a lead role, such as the language lead, have focused training. They pass on what they learn to other staff. As a result, staff speak clearly and carefully to children, making sure that they use correct words. For example, they use animal names such as dog and horse, not doggy and horsey. Children are reminded to use the words they know when they need help.
• Staff understand how young children learn. They provide experiences that build upon the children's existing skills and knowledge. For example, the younger children have adult supported water and sand play to develop their coordination and control when pouring from one container to another. This skill is then used at snack time to promote children's independence as they pour their own drink from jugs that are a manageable size and shape for them.
• Children behave well and react positively when staff use the agreed behaviour management strategies correctly. However, occasionally, staff do not use the 'warning' system or the 'reflection time' in the agreed way. When this happens, some children revert back to what they were doing because they have not had a clear explanation from staff about the impact of their actions.
• Staff keep accurate records of attendance, accidents and incidents. Temporary staff and students report information to permanent staff. However, they are not responsible for writing their own records. This means that the information recorded is not always first-hand.
• Staff provide children with many opportunities to make marks, using their fingers, brushes, pens and other tools. Children are beginning to understand that the marks they make can carry meaning to other people. Older children tell staff about the pictures they have drawn. Staff model writing as they write younger children's names on pictures. Outdoors children use i-spy sheets with pens to mark off when they find an insect.
• Staff take note of how well children concentrate and engage in activities during the pre-school sessions. They have adapted the afternoon session as a result of this and children now play outdoors at the beginning of the session. However, staff do not make sure that planned outdoor activities, such as a water spray activity, are refreshed and have the same adult input during the afternoon. For children who only attend the afternoon session, this means they do not benefit fully from what was a successful learning activity at the morning session.
• Children's health is promoted well by the staff. Staff provide fruit snacks and drinks of milk or water. Indoors and outdoors, children have space to move about freely and they develop good control of their movement. Staff take care to give all children the opportunity to join in with others. Children are proud when staff praise them or when they are chosen to help.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed the behaviour management processes so that they are used consistently by all staff
• support students and supply staff to become more familiar with how to record accidents, incidents and concerns
• improve the afternoon session curriculum delivery so that children attending only afternoon sessions experience the same quality as those who attend the morning session.